DC Entertainment president and chief creative officer Geoff Johns — who went from authoring comic books to having a major hand in the making of movies and television shows based on famous heroes — is stepping down from his executive post and entering into an exclusive writer-producer deal with Warner Bros. and DC, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Johns is launching Mad Ghost Productions, a new banner that will see him work on content for films, television and comic books, and have his hand in current DC properties as well as new and reimagined creations.
At the same time, current DC Entertainment publisher Jim Lee will assume the chief creative officer position, taking on the duties while continuing to act as publisher with Dan DiDio. The two have jointly held the post since 2010.

The moves come in the wake of last week’s exit of Diane Nelson, DC Entertainment’s president, to whom Johns reported, and occurs the day before a judge’s decision will be announced in the high-profile anti-trust trial between the U.S. Department of Justice and AT&T, which is seeking to merge with Time Warner, the parent company of both Warner Bros. and DC.

And it takes place as Warners’ movie division is in the midst of a transition as Walter Hamada, who was installed as president of DC-based films at the studio by pictures group chairman Toby Emmerich, in January, begins to shape the superhero slate in the post-Justice League era.

Johns now goes from the executive ranks back to the creative world, a world which he never truly left. Even as he was promoted to DC Entertainment president in 2016, and retained the title of chief creative officer, which he had held since 2010, he continued to pen some of DC’s biggest books. And, more impactfullly, he was key in launching the TV empire based on DC’s heroes, co-developing The CW’s most successful superhero show, The Flash, and with Peter Roth and WBTV, launching Supergirl and Black Lightning, and many others.

The move in essense unshackles him from the boardroom and positions him to be a major force and supplier of content just as Warners' need and audience demand for that sort of material rises like a mercury on steroids.

“I took on a role at DCE because I love the characters and this universe more than anything. But, I want to spend my days writing and on set. I’m thrilled to get back to a more hands-on creative role. It’s a dream job on dream projects, reaching even deeper into DC’s vast pantheon of characters,” said Johns in a statement.

One of John’s first projects will be Green Lantern Corps, based on DC’s intergalactic police heroes which Johns is already very familiar with, having spent nine years writing Green Lantern comics and its spin-offs and publishing events. Johns will write the screenplay and act as one of the producers on the feature film. Johns is already writing and producing Wonder Woman 2 and will have a co-writing and executive producing credit on Aquaman, this year's only DC offering that opens in December.

“Geoff is a super talented writer and truly embedded in the DC Universe and its characters,” stated Emmerich. “We’re thrilled that he’s returning to his passion and his roots as a writer and producer. And, it’s even better that he’s staying in our Warner Bros. family. We look forward to working with him on ‘Green Lantern’ and other projects going forward.”

On the television side, Johns co-developed and is executive producing (alongside Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and Jeremy Carver) and writing on the first original series for the upcoming DC Universe digital service, Titans. Johns also wrote the Titans episode “Doom Patrol” that it is spinning out into its own 13-episode original series for the digital service.

On the publishing side, Johns will write and curate a DC pop-up label under the moniker The Killing Zone, focusing on new and lesser known or dormant DC characters and titles. He will also write a new Shazam comic series scheduled to hit this fall as well as a comic titled Three Jokers, drawn by Jason Fabok. The latter was a project sidelined as Johns’ time was taken up by executive and screen commitments.

“Geoff is one of DC Comics’ most prolific writers, and we can’t wait to see what he does next now that he will be dedicating 100 percent of his time to telling the best DC stories possible across all media," stated DiDio and Lee.

Being a superhero isn’t just about rescuing cats from trees and putting bad guys in jail — and a new series from DC Entertainment looks to explore the emotional cost of the job.

Following an appearance Tuesday on NBC’s Late Night With Seth Meyers by writer Tom King, the publisher has announced King's next project: the seven-issue Heroes in Crisis, illustrated by his Batman collaborator Clay Mann, with colors by Tomeu Morey and letters from Clayton Cowles. The series will delve into the Sanctuary concept King first mentioned in January — a trauma center for superheroes, founded by Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.

Heroes in Crisis, the title of which plays on the DC tradition of stories with the word “Crisis” in their name (Crisis on Infinite Earths, Zero Hour: Crisis in Time, Infinite Crisis and Final Crisis, to name just four), will trace what happens when Sanctuary fails to adequately provide for its patients and what happens in the aftermath. Described by DC as a murder mystery, the series will feature Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Harley Quinn and Booster Gold as lead characters.

“I feel like I’m part of a rolling generation of people who spent their twenties overseas fighting terrorism," King — a former CIA counterterrorism officer — said in a statement. "Millions of people cycle through that machine and come home to America. And I think that sort of experience of violence is shaping who we are as a culture, and as a country. And I want to talk about that. I want to talk about that experience, the experience of what violence can do to a person, to a community, to a nation, to a world."

He continued, "If I could do anything to the [DC universe], it would be to bring a sense of community of superheroes and people. I feel a duty to talk about what violence does to a society through the comics I’m creating.”

My first thought was they used a character that shouldn't be there because it conflicts with another title. It's been some time since DC pretended to care about continuity so this must be a pretty big oops.